RETURN MISSION
McLeish gets second chance at Scots job
ALEX McLEish last night secured a dream return as manager of scotland.
As Sportsmail first revealed, the former Rangers manager made a personal pitch for the job to the sFA board on Wednesday night.
And McLeish (right) will be officially confirmed as the national team boss this morning on a contract until 2020 prior to a formal hampden unveiling.
Pushed heavily by sFA vice-president Rod Petrie, the decision to restore McLeish to a post he last held in 2007 was waved through unanimously after the doubts of some board members were offset by a trade-off likely to see a club-friendly chief executive appointed as a quick replacement for stewart Regan.
The appointment of McLeish marks the end of a four-month search for Gordon strachan’s successor after Northern ireland boss Michael O’Neill and Rangers legend Walter smith both ruled themselves out of the running.
The fourth most capped player in scotland history,
McLeish had an impressive win rate in his first spell in charge before leaving for Birmingham City. He then managed Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, Genk and Zamalek, the Egyptian club marking his last management job in 2016. The 59-year-old came as close as anyone to ending Scotland’s lengthy absence from major finals when a stunning away win over France almost secured qualification for Euro 2008. Nevertheless, public reservations over the appointment of a man who last held the job ten years ago were aired by key members of the SFA board. McLeish secured the support of waverers after accepting an invitation to address the governing body hierarchy on Wednesday. Following criticism of the way the SFA is run from Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell, however, SFA president Alan McRae and Hibs chairman Petrie could be forced to accept the arrival of a reforming chief executive charged with restructuring the governing body and building bridges with disenfranchised clubs. Partick Thistle’s Ian Maxwell, one of the SPFL representatives on the SFA board, is the frontrunner after Regan lost the confidence of his board earlier this month. Leeann Dempster ruled herself out of the running for the post yesterday and called on the SFA and the SPFL to work together more closely for the greater good of Scottish football. The Hibs chief executive was always an outsider in the race following Regan’s departure. She confessed to being flattered to have been mentioned as a contender and said: ‘It’s absolutely true that the job is one of the best, if not the best, football jobs in Scotland. Any person who is linked with it wouldn’t be telling the truth if they said they never stopped and blinked for a second. ‘But that’s effectively what it was. I stopped and blinked for a second and then reflected on life here and the work that’s happening here. ‘It’s a big challenge for whoever goes in there and that’s not something I wouldn’t be up for, but I’m enjoying life here. ‘There are opportunities to improve the game in Scotland and, with the events of the last couple of weeks, we’re at a stage now where we’ve got a chance to look towards the future. ‘We need to get into a situation where both organisations are working as closely as they possibly can. It’s probably a staging point for us and a good opportunity to get into that position.’